At Whisperin' & Hollerin', we're long-standing GO-BETWEENS fans and with the release of the Australian quartet's typically superb new album "Bright Yellow, Bright Orange" we were lucky enough to get the opportunity of a chat with both the band's leading lights, Grant McLennan and Robert Forster. Both were gracious and intelligent and more than happy to give us exclusive insights into their world. Firstly, GRANT McLENNAN spoke to TIM PEACOCK about everything from studio technology to Greek philosophy to why the musical climate is currently better suited to The Go-Betweens...
Talking of climate, it's the weather that nearly blows my phone conversation with Grant off course as he has to vacate his house temporarily as an electrical storm descends on Brisbane. A little later he's back, still remarkably cheery, describing the effects of the storm as "beautiful." He's not easily fazed, is Grant, as I discover when the talk turns to present-day Go-Betweens and I ask him whether people have more expectations of the band these days since they reformed to produce 2000's great "Friends Of Rachel Worth" comeback...
"No, I don't feel there's more pressure at all," says Grant, without even a hint of hesitation.
"Around the time we were making "Friends Of Rachel Worth" there was a discussion because people certainly do seem to have fond thoughts of us and as music fans Robert and I didn't want to fuck with our reputation, if you know what I mean."
"But then other elements fell into place at the right time that made us confident that this was the right thing to do, like we had Adele (Pickvance, bassist) on board and at the time having Janet Weiss (Sleater-Kinney drummer) hold up her hand and play with us and making the correct choice with the studio in Portland, Oregon."
"So, yeah, that's a long answer to a question where I could simply have said 'NO'...we don't feel any pressure," he finishes, laughing.
The new album, "Bright Yellow Bright Orange" is only the second time since your debut "Send Me A Lullabye" (the other being the final pre-split album "16 Lover's Lane") that you've been back to Australia to record. Why relocate here now and - from the organic sound of the record it sounds like it - was the album fun to make?
"Yeah, it was an enjoyable experience," confirms Grant.
"Funnily enough we made "Send Me A Lullabye" in a small studio close to the place where "Bright Yellow.." was recorded."
"With this album, " he contines, "we wanted a large room to record as live as possible in the main where we could use strategical technical requirements like 2" analogue tape. We did use some computers, though, so it was kind of the best of both worlds."
I hear that you really need knowledge of the Pro-Tools set up to make records these days?
"Nah, that's rubbish," Grant shoots back.
"Actually, a lot of information's used to get it to sound like old valve recordings these days. I mean, take The White Stripes. I think it's fantastic that their new album was done on simple 8-track."
The current Go-Betweens line-up is completed by bassist Adele Pickvance and drummer (and another Brisbane native) Glenn Thompson. Is this a long-term thing now and what do they bring to the band?
"I'd certainly like to think it's an ongoing thing," Grant replies.
"They make us sound a great unit and we're playing well together. We did a show for the Perth Arts Festival in Western Australia in February and it was fantastic. The fact that Glenn's from Brisbane himself is no bad thing. Any local links are healthy."
Typically, the ten songs on the new album are maginfiently-realised guiter pop songs with plenty of lyrical twists. One of Grant's that really struck me was "Mrs.Morgan" which appears to - loosely - tell the story of a woman with clairvoyant abilities. It's got that great small-town intrigue that the band have always done so well in songs like "The Clarke Sisters." Is "Mrs.Morgan" a real person, Grant?
"She's actually a character I've written about twice previously, actually," Grant reveals.
"I made two albums with Steve Kilbey (from The Church) as JACK FROST in the early '90s and my song "Trapeze Boy" on the first of those is about here. Also, I have a song called "Sea Breeze" on my solo record "In My Bright Ray" which is about her. Having said that, there isn't actually a Mrs.Morgan. The person I'm speaking of has a different name. She's based on an older woman who was very kind to me in the past, let's leave it at that."
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I also love the song "Crooked Lines" as it has such lovely harmonies and the wonderful imagery. The line about "You can say we're fighting, Athens or Sparta" fascinates me. Without wanting to force you to explain the lyric can you tell me more about this one?
"Well, it can just be about geography, if you want," says Grant, a little cagily.
"It's really a reference to two ways of seeing things, though, " he continues.
"In Greek Philosophy there are two opposing bodies of thought and it relates to that. The Appollonian way is more physical, more theoretical, while the opposing Dionysian relates to Sparta and the embodiment of a more emotional, passionate way of thinking. In the song the two people are connected, but on a different path and there's conflict. It's open-ended, though, so you can draw your own conclusion."
In terms of songwriting, I've always assumed that with you and Robert it's the classic Lennon and McCartney set up where - although the songs are co-credited - whoever sings it basically wrote the song. Am I correct?
"Yeah, that's true," Grant agrees.
"As a rule it's like that. Having said that, on "Bright Yellow..." there's a song called "Too Much Of One Thing" where I had the chords and melody and I asked Robert to write words for it. It's actually the first song we've collaborated properly on. In general Robert writes his songs, I do mine and when we're ready to record we sit down together and polish them. Now we've made eight studio albums together I think we're finally getting the hang of it(laughs)!"
Do you think this is a good time for The Go-Betweens in terms of the prevailing guitar-based musical climate? Though I'm not sure you fit in so obviously with the more garage-y elements that seem to rule the roost at present?
"Yeah, that's perceptive," Grant demurs.
"At the moment there are a lot of bands using guitars in a, shall we say, not boring way and I think there are definitely more records worth buying. However, there are still hundreds of musical adventures that don't interest me out there and certainly there's an overload of bands."
"One thing I like about the new technology," he continues, after a pause, "is that it means people can record alone at home if they want and that's got to be good for the art form. I think that while the climate might be a bit more conducive, The Go-Betweens are still seen as a bit too weird in general...we're maybe still out in the hills rather than the mainstream."
Finally, Grant, you have a back catalogue with The Go-Betweens that any sane person would be proud of, but do you have a personal favourite?
"I think "Before Hollywood" (second Go-B's album from early 1983 featuring the great "Cattle And Cane" - Ed) does it for me for a number of reasons. We'd not been resident for long in London at the time and "Before Hollywood" really eloquently stated the case for us as a band, especially after "Send Me A Lullabye," which really caught the band at the end of a period we were growing out of."
"I have good memories of the others too," Grant continues.
"I like "Liberty Belle...", but I would have liked more time to mix it and I also think "16 Lovers Lane" was a good record. It has a sonic clarity that pulls together cohesively. It's a sad record, but a beautiful record capturing a mood."
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